Letter to the editor - September 14, 2013

Friday

Sep 13, 2013 at 10:39 PM

Demotion doesn't rate a raise I read the article entitled, "Inspector got raise following demotion" on Sept. 11, and was quite disturbed to see that the Novant Health Brunswick Hospital was completed without a proper inspection. I went online and read the report mentioned in the article. I have to ask … the buck stops where? On a huge project like the Brunswick hospital, which uses the electrical power of a good size town, and upon which patient's lives literally depend, how could county officials allow the sign-off by a chief building inspector … having no certification for electrical inspections, when a Level 3 certification was required? Who was minding the store? The report mentions many other infractions in the Brunswick County building department over a long period of time. Then the county turns around and rubs our nose in it by giving the demoted inspector a raise. This is unacceptable, and county officials responsible for the oversight need to provide an explanation of how this could have happened.Daniel T. Bartell, Supply

If the U.S. decides to attack Syria, history will no doubt refer to the action as Obama's Teleprompter War.Since the administration – and many members of Congress – can't say with certainty that Syria poses a clear and present danger to our national security, they are now saying that failure to attack would put the credibility of the presidency at risk throughout the world. This is all because Obama went off script, and self-defined a red line in the sand.The death of children, especially by chemical weapons, is a horrible thing. But, unless they are our children, it is hardly a justification for war. If it were, we would be constantly at war in multiple countries throughout the world.There are many despots who do terrible things to their citizenry, encourage and support terrorism, and pose a regional threat to stability. The United States cannot – and should not – be the singular force against such tyranny. We have neither the national will, nor the expendable resources, necessary to don such a mantle. The cost in lives and resources to support a military force adequate to successfully prosecute that mission would be prohibitive. War with Syria, as defined as a political conflict carried out by force of arms, is when the United States should just say no.Gary Purdum, Wilmington

In his speech commemorating Martin Luther King's work, the president stated that if King were alive today, he would be in love with the Unaffordable Care Act.King's legacy as an articulate, charismatic individual with deeply religious and moral values, dedicated to fairness and opportunity for all – regardless of race or creed – would have found it impossible, like most, to support more red-flag legislation passed without Congress even reading it … still unable to explain it, yet somehow exempting themselves and their families from it. …Even labor unions now recognize that Obamacare will move more families to partial employment, while delivering another enormous blow to the economy and health care. The most vulnerable among us always seem to be the main target of the administration's endless intent to foster more dependency on government and others.If King were with us today, he would indeed be greatly saddened by those imbedded in the administration and media, who seek to divide – rather than unite – by magnifying the worst and ignoring the best in all of us.Their actions and dark vision for our country must no longer remain overlooked or dismissed.Doug Patterson, Wilmington

As a marine artillery forward observer in Vietnam, I saw the daily struggles in the civil war. I saw where the only important things in their lives were their families and the water buffalo to plow the rice paddies. But yet … we had a bigger vision.The Vietnamese only wanted to be left alone. Capitalism, at the time, was not a feasible option. Was losing our treasure and, more importantly, the blood of 50,000 Americans, worth it?Now one travels to Vietnam via cruise ship or airplane, stays at a Marriott hotel in Ho Chi Min City, or old Saigon, and relaxes at a Baskin Robbins ice cream parlor. Expatriate Vietnamese Americans are starting businesses there, and shipping shrimp to the U.S.So, what about Syria? It's their civil war. After it is over, one way or another, neither Assad's regime, nor the rebels, are going to want us there – or care that we helped.Let's put the millions spent on cruise missiles into our roads and, more importantly, our schools.Thomas Conaty, Southport